The History of China

A suspicious ship of dubious registry is boarded by Qing marines off Canton, 12 of her crew are taken captive for piracy, and the British allege their flag was hauled down in the process. That last part, at least, was almost certainly untrue... not that that stops it all from spinning entirely out of control.

Within the month, the Royal Navy will be shelling the office of the viceroy who won't meet with them, Parliament's own better angels will be promptly overturned by the public itself at the polls, and the kickoff of a 4-year war… that no one could ever quite name an actual cause for: The Arrow War, AKA The 2nd Opium War.Time Period Covered:Oct. 1856 – 1860 CE

Major Historical Figures:The Qing:The Xianfeng Emperor [1831–1861]Ye Mingchen, Governor-General of Liangguang [1807–1859]Senggelinqin, Mongol prince; commander at Taku [1811–1865]The British:James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, High Commissioner & Plenipotentiary [1811–1863]Frederick Bruce, first British Minister to China [1814–1867]Harry Parkes, acting British Consul at Canton [1828–1885]Sir John Bowring, Governor of Hong Kong [1792–1872]In Parliament:Lord Palmerston, Prime Minister [1784–1865]William Gladstone [1809–1898]Benjamin Disraeli [1804–1881]The French & Americans:Baron Gros, French PlenipotentiaryFather Auguste Chapdelaine, missionary [d. 1856]Josiah Tattnall, U.S. Navy commodore [1795–1871]John E. Ward, U.S. Minister to China [1814–1902]The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom:Hong Xiuquan, the Heavenly King [1814–1864]

Major Works Cited:Platt, Stephen R. Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War.Twitchett, Denis, and John K. Fairbank, eds. The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 10: Late Ch'ing, 1800–1911, Part 1.Wong, J. Y. Deadly Dreams: Opium, Imperialism, and the Arrow War (1856–1860) in China.
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The Loyal King does everything right. He writes ahead to Shanghai to announce he's coming – as a friend! And only for the Qing parts of the city! His standing orders: no firing on the foreigners, you get your head chopped off. He even signs off wishing them all good health until he can meet them in person.

It's returned unopened. As is the second one.

And so, in the third week of August 1860, an army marching under orders
not to shoot back spends 5 days being shelled outside the walls of a
city they thought friendly… all culminating with the French burning
the suburbs to the ground, with everyone still inside.

And those soldiers holding that wall on the Qing’s behalf? They're the
rear echelon of an expedition sailing north to burn down the
dynasty's capital.Time Period Covered:June-Aug. 1860 CE

Major Historical Figures:The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom:Hong Rengan, the Shield King (Gan Wang), Prime Minister [1822–1864]Li Xiucheng, the Loyal King (Zhong Wang) [1823–1864]

The Qing:Xue Huan, acting Governor of JiangsuWu Xu, the Shanghai DaotaiYang Fang, banker; head of the merchant syndicateHe Guiqing, cashiered Governor-General of Liangjiang [1816–1862]

The Foreigners…At Shanghai:Frederick Bruce, British Minister to China [1814–1867]Thomas Taylor Meadows, acting British Consul at Shanghai [1815–1868]Frederick Townsend Ward, commander, Shanghai Foreign-Arms Corps
[1831–1862]Thomas Francis Wade, first British Inspector of Customs at Shanghai [1818–1895]Horatio Nelson Lay, British Inspector of Customs from 1855 [1832–1898]Savage, English coastal pilot in Taiping service [d. 1860]In the North:James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, British High Commissioner; Frederick Bruce's elder brother [1811–1863]

Major Works Cited:Fairbank, John King. Trade and Diplomacy on the China Coast: The Opening of the Treaty Ports, 1842–1854.Jen, Yu-wen. The Taiping Revolutionary Movement.Michael, Franz, and Chung-li Chang. The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents, Vols. I–III.Murphey, Rhoads. Shanghai: Key to Modern China.Platt, Stephen R. Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War.Spence, Jonathan D. God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan.Twitchett, Denis, and John K. Fairbank, eds. The Cambridge History of China,
Vol. 10: Late Ch'ing, 1800–1911, Part 1.
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For a thousand years, Suzhou and Hangzhou stood as synonyms for the next best thing to Heaven itself. Well... that was before 1860. As of now, Hangzhou is a fire-gutted ruin, and Suzhou is next on the target list.

But the army that does the most damage… is not the invader. The Taiping arrive to find the dirty work done ahead of them, by the very Qing forces assigned to defend the great southern city, and a vast number of the city having decided to "take matters into their own hands." As such, when a party of missionaries sails upriver from Shanghai to find out just what happened to Suzhou, they'll have to wade through a literal riverful of the dead.

Time Period Covered:May-Aug. 1860 CE

Major Historical Figures:

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom:Hong Xiuquan, the Heavenly King [1814–1864]Hong Rengan, the Shield King (Gan Wang), Prime Minister [1822–1864]Li Xiucheng, the Loyal King (Zhong Wang) [1823–1864]

The Qing:The Xianfeng Emperor [1831–1861]He Guiqing, Governor-General of Liangjiang [1816–1862]Xu Youren, Governor of Jiangsu [d. 1860]Zeng Guofan, Governor-General of Liangjiang (from June 8, 1860); commander, Hunan Army [1811–1872]Ma Dezhao, Qing commander

The Foreign Missionaries:Joseph Edkins, London Missionary Society [1823–1905]Jane Edkins, his wife [1841-1863]Griffith John, Welsh Congregationalist missionary [1831–1912]James Legge, London Missionary Society, Hong Kong [1815–1897]

Major Works Cited:Jen, Yu-wen. The Taiping Revolutionary Movement.Michael, Franz, and Chung-li Chang. The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents, Vols. I–III.Platt, Stephen R. Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War.Spence, Jonathan D. God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan.
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The stealth troops successfully sneak past the enemy lines in dead men's
coats. The false flags planted on the hillside fool the city guard. The front gate assault diverts, while the sappers around back bring the walls down. I love it when a plan comes together, every single piece locking in like perfect clockwork...

Except… it wasn't really the plan. The city that fell was never the objective – it was merely a diversion… a diversion that would leave 60,000 dead within a week.

Time Period Covered:

1860 CE

Major Historical Figures:

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom:

Hong Xiuquan, the Heavenly King [1814–1864]

Hong Rengan, the Shield King (Gan Wang), Prime Minister [1822–1864]

Li Xiucheng, the Loyal King (Zhong Wang) [1823–1864]

Li Shixian, the Attending King (Shi Wang) [1834–1865]

Chen Yucheng, the Brave King (Ying Wang) [1837–1862]

The Qing:

The Xianfeng Emperor [1831–1861]

He Chun, Imperial Commissioner, Jiangnan Daying [d. 1860]

Zeng Guofan, acting Governor-General of Liangjiang; commander, Hunan Army [1811–1872]

Zhang Guoliang, commander, Jiangnan Daying [1822–1860]

Zhang Yuliang, commander of the Hangzhou relief column

Xu Yuren, Governor of JiangsuMajor Works Cited:Jen, Yu-wen. The Taiping Revolutionary Movement.Michael, Franz, and Chung-li Chang. The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents, Vols. I–III.

Platt, Stephen R. Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War.Spence, Jonathan D. God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan.
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Please check out this entire series-arc, re-written, expanded, & re-recorded as of Aug 2026:- Ep. 306: Dead Men Tell No Tales: https://megaphone.link/ARML5251369441- Ep. 307: Murders & Acquisitions, Mostly: https://megaphone.link/ARML6215286599 - Ep. 308: The Shadow State:

https://megaphone.link/ARML7890860851

Bottled up in Tung Chung Bay, subsisting for three weeks on caterpillars & boiled rice, the largest pirate fleet in the history of the world meets six Portuguese ships and the arithmetic that finishes it. What follows is the biggest criminal amnesty the world had yet seen, and a question very few pirates ever get to ask themselves: what does a cutthroat do with retirement?

Time Period Covered:

1809–1844 CE

Major Historical Figures:

Red Flag Confederation:

Zheng Yi Sao (AKA Ching Shih, née Shi Yang), Commander of the Red Flag Confederation [1775–1844]Zhang Baozai (Cheung Po Tsai), Fleet Commander of the Red Flags, later Qing navy vice-commander at Penghu [1783–1822]Guo Podai, Commander of the Black Flag Fleet [178?–181?]Mei Ying, a captive of the Red Flag Fleet [d. 1809]

Qing Empire:

The Jiaqing Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Yongyan) [r. 1796–1820]The Daoguang Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Minning) [r. 1820–1850]Bailing (Zhang Bailing), Governor-General of Liangguang [1748–18??]Sun Quanmou, Provincial Fleet CommanderZhou Feixiong, physician of MacauWu Yaonan, government official [fl. 1810–1840]Lin Zexu, Viceroy of Liangguang [1785–1850]

Portuguese Empire:

Miguel José de Arriaga Brum da Silveira, Ouvidor of MacauCaptain José Pinto Alcoforado de Azevedo e Sousa, Commander of the Macau FlotillaGonçalves Carocha, pilot

British East India Company:

Richard Glasspoole, second mate of the Marquis of Ely [1788–1846]

Major Sources Cited:

Andrade, Tonio. The Gunpowder Age: China, Military Innovation, and the Rise of the West in World History.

Antony, Robert J. Like Froth Floating on the Sea: The World of Pirates and Seafarers in Late Imperial South China.

Glasspoole, Richard. A Brief Narrative of My Captivity and Treatment Amongst the Ladrones (1809); see also Owen Rutter, ed., Mr Glasspoole and the Chinese Pirates (Golden Cockerel Press, 1935).Leonard, Jane Kate. “Maritime China in Transition, 1750–1850,” in The Cambridge History of China, Volume 9, Part 2: The Ch’ing Dynasty to 1800.

Murray, Dian H. Pirates of the South China Coast, 1790–1810.

Van de Ven, Hans J. Breaking with the Past: The Maritime Customs Service and the Global Origins of Modernity in China.

Yuan Yonglun. Jing hai fen ji (靖海氛記, 1830), translated by Karl Friedrich Neumann as History of the Pirates Who Infested the China Sea, 1807–1810 (London, 1831).
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